PM Modi asks BRICS, other developing nations to join in India's growth story
New Delhi, August 22
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will be the growth engine of the world and called upon the approximately 40 leaders attending the BRICS Summit in South Africa to join in India’s growth story.
India will soon become USD 5 trillion economy and its reforms have helped in the ease of doing business, the Prime Minister said while speaking at the concluding ceremony of the BRICS Business Council.
PM Modi hoped the BRICS Summit will provide a useful opportunity to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development. It will also weigh the expanding of membership.
PM Modi said he was looking forward to the deliberations and meetings with world leaders even as he was accorded a warm welcome by the Indian Diaspora upon his arrival in South Africa. The PM will hold several bilaterals but of great interest will be his interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
PM Modi also said the Summit will be a platform to discuss issues of concern for the Global South and other areas of development.
The summit officially began on Tuesday with a business forum which was addressed by PM Modi and other leaders. They then gathered for a retreat at the luxury Summer Place estate in Johannesburg.
“An expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order,” said South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
PM Modi was received by South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile at Waterkloof Air Force Base, where he was given a ceremonial guard of honour. Other BRICS leaders including Xi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Brazilian President Lula also arrived in Johannesburg.
Lavrov is leading the Russian delegation in the absence of Valdimir Putin who joined the summit virtually and was cheered while addressing the BRICS Business Forum. Besides Putin, the other no-shows were Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emanuel Macron, both of whom had wanted to attend the BRICS summit. A last-minute addition was the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who will join the Summit on Wednesday.
This is the first in-person summit of BRICS comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, since 2019.
Indian community members also greeted the PM at the airport. Later at the hotel, he met with local and expatriate Indian community members carrying national flags and musical instruments and chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
Two women diaspora members tied ‘rakhi’ around the wrist of Modi ahead of Raksha Bandhan on August 30. The PM also viewed a model of the huge Swaminarayan Mandir which has been under construction since 2017 and will be completed next year.
Earlier in his departure statement in New Delhi, Modi said BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors. “We value that BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system,” he said.
Over 20 heads of state from Africa and the Middle East have also been invited to attend, many of whom have applied for BRICS membership. The PM will travel to Greece on August 25.
